


Burning Embers

by On_The_Edge_of_Glory



Series: The Flames of The Heart [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Beacon Hills, Gen, Season/Series 01, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 05:27:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15745200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/On_The_Edge_of_Glory/pseuds/On_The_Edge_of_Glory
Summary: He remembers the screams. The smell of burning flesh. The excruciating pain of the flames. He has nightmares of it every night. He can still hear the screams of his family if he listens. The past haunts him. His burns make him remember. He wanted a fresh start and after six years that fresh start is in ruins. A dead cousin, angry Argents, a murderous alpha, naive teenagers, and an unavailable mate. Dakota Hale wishes he could go back to the days when his biggest worry was which cookie he wanted to eat.





	Burning Embers

Dakota smiles as he is pushed on the swings. "Higher, dad! Higher!" He cries with excitement. He's already ten, but he's still a kid at heart. The deep chuckle of his father rings in his ears.

"You sure, Koti? What if you take off and fly out to space?"

"Then you'll save me. You always do." The swing stops and Dakota pouts. "Dad-"

"No matter what, Koti, I will always save you." His father says as he crouches before him.

"I know, dad."

"I love you, buddy."

"Do you love Hazel?"

"Just as much as I love you."

"Do you love mom?"

"I love her from the moon and back." Dakota smiles.

"Honey, dinner's ready." Dakota lifts up his head to see his mother standing a few feet away. She was beautiful. Her face was smooth from any stress and wrinkles, her eyes were a sparkling blue that shined with happiness, her auburn hair looked to glow with the setting sun against it, and her skin seems to shine from being seven months pregnant.

"Mom, will it be twins again?" Dakota asks suddenly.

"I don't know baby, maybe."

"I hope so. I don't want it to be lonely. I don't know what I'd do without Hazel." His father smiles and pushes his son's black hair out of his face, letting his own captivating blue eyes shine.

"And I don't know what I'd without you both and your mother." He smiles. "Come on, bud, let's get some food into you. You want to grow big and strong like me, right?" Dakota smiles as his dad picks him up.

"Dad, I'm too heavy."

"I may be just a beta, Koti, but I'm strong enough to carry your fat as-"

"Language."

"Butt, around." Dakota giggles as he looks at his mom.

"What's wrong with saying ass?"

"Peter." His mother huffs. "Koti, head on in, okay." Dakota nods as his dad lowers him. He makes his way up the stairs. "You need to watch what you say in front of him, Peter."

"Ruby, he's ten and he was kidding-"

"I don't care Peter. You're a bad influence."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what that's supposed to mean, Peter." Dakota's mother snaps.

"Oh, right because you're mother of the fucken year! That's not even my kid you have in you!" Dakota squeezes his eyes shut as he leans against the wall inside, listening to his parents fighting.

"Don't you dare. I'm not the one who fucked your best friend!"

"No, you did worst. You fucked an Argent!"

"I am a good mother, Peter-"

"What's going to happen when it's born, Ruby? Huh? You and Chris going to go live happily ever after? He's married and you have two kids in there that need you, but you don't even realize it. All you think about is yourself, Ruby. You are a selfish bitch. No one is more of a bad influence than you. It's time you make a choice, Ruby, either you clean up your fucken act and act like an actual mother to my babies or leave."

"You actually think you can take care of them on your own? You barely can take of yourself, Peter! You are as childish as those two in there. And you call me selfish? You never do anything for those two-" Dakota flinches as he hears the sound of his mother being slapped.

"Don't you fucken dare! While you were off screwing a hunter, I was raising those two! I was nursing my daughter back to health! I was helping Koti with his homework! Where were you, Ruby? You had your legs spread for some hunter, leaving me, your mate, to take of those two on my own! So don't you dare talk about me not putting the needs of my children before my own!"

"Koti, baby?" Dakota opens his eyes to see Talia kneeling before him. "Look, what I got." Talia has a cookie in her hand. Peanut butter with chocolate chips, Dakota's favorite. "Just don't tell your mom that I snuck it for you." Dakota smiles and takes it, biting into the warm gooey cookie. "Come on, let's go get a glass of milk for that cookie." Dakota took Talia's hand and let her lead him into the kitchen, his parents' fighting now out of his thoughts.

"Thank you, aunt Talia." Talia smiles and kisses Dakota's head before grabbing a glass of milk. The front door slams open, causing Dakota to jump.

"Peter! Peter, we're not done talking! Peter!"

"Dakota, want to see something cool?" Dakota pulls his eyes away from his angry father and turns to his aunt, who's eyes now glow red.

"How did you do that?"

"I just closed my eyes and concentrated on the wolf. Try it." Dakota closes his eyes and concentrated. When he opened his eyes, his eyes too were glowing. "Great job, Koti. You're going to be an amazing werewolf." Dakota smiles and bites into his cookie just as the sound of breaking glass fills his ears.

"Cover your face!" Dakota hears his dad scream.

"Koti don't breathe!" Talia yells as clouds of smoke fills the house. Dakota does as he is told, but as more smoke billows in it becomes harder and harder to hold his breath. Talia is trying to break open the door, but it's being held shut.

"Daddy!" Hazel screams in fear as Dakota takes in a breath. The air smells sweet like flowers. Dakota's eyes grow heavy and his mind grows dizzy as he begins to cough. "Koti!"

*****

"Koti! Koti, wake up! Koti!" Dakota groans as he opens his eyes, which begin to sting as smoke fills them. His sister is leaning over him, shaking with fear and worry.

"What's going on? Where are we?"

"We're in the basement. They're burning us alive, Koti." Dakota looks around and sure enough, the place was burning. Beams from above was falling and his cousins and aunts and uncles were all screaming as they too were burned. Their screams echoed throughout the basement and sent shivers of fear down Dakota's back. Dakota coughs as the black smoke fills his lungs.

"Dakota! Hazel!" Dakota gets to his feet shakily and sees his father trying to get to them.

"Daddy!" Hazel screams as she goes running.

"No, Hazel, stop!" Their dad tries to warn, but Hazel is too scared to hear. She runs towards him just as a pipe burst, blowing hot steam onto her arm. She screams in pain and stumbles to the ground. "Hazel!" Hazel's arm falls back right into the fire, burning her skin to the bone quickly. She pulls back her arm, but it's too late, the damage is done. She screams in pain as she holds her arm.

"Hazel!" Dakota runs to her just as a beam falls.

"Dakota!" His dad screams as the beam falls onto the small boy, not enough to crush him, but enough that the flames on it engulfs his back. The boy's screams are blood-chilling. Tears roll down his face as the smell of his own burning flesh consumes his nose. "Dakota!" All around him the screams of his family can be heard. Their cries of help go ignored from outside where the hunters are. Their desperate attempt to escape go unsuccessful.

Dakota blinks as he feels the fire being patted off. He looks up to see that his father had gotten the beam off him and was killing the fire. "Come on!" He scopes Dakota up into his arms and takes off running for the window. He grabs the sobbing Hazel on the way. "Come on! Come on!" He screams as he tries to bash open the basement window. "Open up!" He throws a hard punch to the window, causing it to finally break. "Go, both of you, climb through." The twins move quickly, scurring through the open window.

"Dad!" Dakota yells, reaching an arm out for his dad to grab. His dad's hand touches his just as a fuel tank explodes. "No!" Dakota screams as his hand burns up, but he doesn't let go of his dad. "No, you're not dying too!" He pulls and pulls and finally his dad is pulled out of the basement. Half his body is burned to the bone. "Daddy!" Dakota screams as his dad doesn't move, talk, or open his eyes. "Daddy!" His dad lays lifeless as the sound of sirens fills Dakota's ears. "Daddy!"


End file.
